ORANGE COUNTY, Fla.,None — A book deal? A life in hiding? Motherhood again? What could the future hold for Casey Anthony when she gets out of jail, perhaps as early as Thursday?
Should she be released at her sentencing Thursday, after nearly three years behind bars, Anthony could be hard-pressed to piece together some semblance of a normal life.
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Meanwhile, jurors aren't talking. Prosecutors are stunned that they lost. Defense attorneys are lashing out at the media, and Casey Anthony could be free by the weekend.
A case that involved years of forensic investigation, weeks of often highly technical testimony and untold hours of media analysis turned out to be a quick decision for the jurors weighing whether Casey killed her daughter Caylee Marie Anthony. Early in their second day of deliberations, the 12 men and women concluded Tuesday that the 25-year-old lied to investigators but wasn't guilty in her child's death.
Now, Casey waits to learn if she could spend her first night out of jail in almost three years since she was first accused in the case. She was only convicted of four misdemeanor counts of lying to investigators, and it's possible that Judge Belvin Perry could sentence her Thursday to time already served for those crimes. The four counts of lying to sheriff's deputies each carry a maximum sentence of one year.
Casey has been in jail since her October 2008 arrest on first-degree murder charges. She avoided a possible death sentence thanks to her acquittal on the murder count. The case began in July 2008 when Caylee was reported missing.
"I'm very happy for Casey, ecstatic for her and I want her to be able to grieve and grow and somehow get her life back together," defense attorney Jose Baez said Tuesday. "I think this case is a perfect example of why the death penalty does not work ... Murder is not right, no matter who does it."
The trial became a national television sensation, with its CSI-style testimony about duct-tape marks on the child's face and the smell of death inside a car trunk.
After a month and a half of testimony, the jury took less than 11 hours to find Casey not guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated manslaughter and aggravated child abuse.
Tears welled in Anthony's eyes, her face reddened, and her lips trembled, and she began breathing heavily as she listened to the verdict.
Casey's parents, George and Cindy, left court quickly after the verdict without hugging or saying anything to their daughter. Their attorney, Mark Lippman, told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Wednesday that they hadn't spoken with their daughter since the verdict. Lippman wouldn't answer whether the Anthonys believe their daughter killed Caylee.
Jurors declined to talk to reporters after their decision, but an alternate juror told NBC's "Today" show on Wednesday he thought they came to the right verdict. Russell Huekler told the network he didn't think the prosecution presented enough evidence to sustain a murder charge.
"When they explained to us what reasonable doubt was, I definitely had reasonable doubt then," Huekler said. Huekler also said he didn't think prosecutors provided a motive for why Casey would kill her daughter.
"Just because Casey was a party girl did not show why she would possibly kill Caylee," he said.
Some local media outlets, including WFTV Channel 9, have filed a motion requesting the jurors' names be released.
It's customary after most trials, but right now, the court elected to keep the names sealed.
Chief Judge Belvin Perry is expected to hear the motion on Thursday.
Also on NBC, prosecutor Jeff Ashton said the verdict left him and other prosecutors in shock.
"I think I mouthed the word `wow' about five times," he said.
Many in the crowd of about 500 people outside the courthouse Tuesday reacted with anger after the verdict was read, chanting, "Justice for Caylee!" One man yelled, "Baby killer!"
Given the relative speed with which the jury came back with a verdict, many court-watchers were expecting Casey to be convicted in the killing, and they were stunned by the outcome.
Prosecutors contended that Anthony -- a single mother living with her parents -- suffocated Caylee with duct tape because she wanted to be free to hit the nightclubs and spend time with her boyfriend.
Defense attorneys argued that Caylee drowned in the family swimming pool and that Casey panicked and hid the body because of the traumatic effects of being sexually abused by her father.
The case played out on national television almost from the moment Caylee was reported missing three years ago. CNN's Nancy Grace dissected the case at every turn with the zeal of the prosecutor she once was, arguing that Anthony was responsible for her daughter's death. The TV host turned the term "tot mom" into shorthand for Casey.
Casey's attorney Cheney Mason blasted the media after the verdict.
"Well, I hope that this is a lesson to those of you having indulged in media assassination for three years, bias, prejudice and incompetent talking heads saying what would be and how to be," Mason said. "I'm disgusted by some of the lawyers that have done this, and I can tell you that my colleagues from coast to coast and border to border have condemned this whole process of lawyers getting on television and talking about cases that they don't know a damn thing about."
The jurors -- seven women and five men -- would not talk to the media, and their identities were kept secret by the court.
State's Attorney Lawson Lamar said: "We're disappointed in the verdict today because we know the facts and we've put in absolutely every piece of evidence that existed." The prosecutor lamented the lack of hard evidence, saying, "This is a dry-bones case. Very, very difficult to prove. The delay in recovering little Caylee's remains worked to our considerable disadvantage."
Caylee's disappearance went unreported by her own mother for a month. Caylee's decomposed body was eventually found in the woods near her grandparents' home six months after she was last seen. A medical examiner was never able to establish how she died.
The case became a macabre tourist attraction in Orlando. People camped outside for seats in the courtroom, and scuffles broke out among those desperate to watch the drama unfold.
Because the case got so much media attention in Orlando, jurors were brought in from the Tampa Bay area and sequestered for the entire trial, during which they listened to more than 33 days of testimony and looked at 400 pieces of evidence. Anthony did not take the stand.
"While we're happy for Casey, there are no winners in this case," Baez said after the verdict. "Caylee has passed on far, far too soon and what my driving force has been for the last three years has been always to make sure that there has been justice for Caylee and Casey because Casey did not murder Caylee. It's that simple. And today our system of justice has not dishonored her memory by a false conviction."
In closing arguments, prosecutor Linda Drane-Burdick showed the jury two side-by-side images. One showed Anthony smiling and partying in a nightclub during the first month Caylee was missing. The other was the tattoo Casey she got a day before law enforcement learned of the child's disappearance: the Italian words for "beautiful life."
"At the end of this case, all you have to ask yourself is whose life was better without Caylee?" Burdick asked. "This is your answer."
Prosecutors also focused heavily on an odor in the trunk of Casey's car, which forensics experts said was consistent with the smell of human decay.
But the defense argued that the air analysis could not be duplicated, that no one could prove a stain found in the trunk was caused by Caylee's remains, and that maggots in the compartment had come from a bag of trash.
Prosecutors hammered away at the lies that Casey told when the child was missing: She told her parents that she couldn't produce Caylee because the girl was with a nanny named Zanny -- a woman who doesn't exist; that she and her daughter were spending time with a rich boyfriend who doesn't exist; and that Zanny had been hospitalized after an out-of-town traffic crash and that they were spending time with her.
Baez said during closing arguments that the prosecutors' case was so weak they tried to portray Anthony as "a lying, no-good slut" and that their forensic evidence was based on a "fantasy." He said Caylee's death was "an accident that snowballed out of control."
He contended that the toddler drowned and when Casey panicked, her father, a former police officer, decided to make the death look like a murder by putting duct tape on the girl's mouth and dumping the body in the woods a quarter-mile away. Casey's father denied both the cover-up and abuse claims.
The verdict could divide people for many years to come, just as the O.J. Simpson case in the mid-1990s did, with some believing Casey got away with murder.
Ti McLeod, who lives near the Anthony family, said, "The justice system has failed Caylee." Jodie Ickes, who lives a mile away and goes to the same hairdresser Anthony uses, said she is against the death penalty and was glad that Casey wasn't facing execution. "I'm comfortable with the outcome," she concluded.
Among the trial spectators was 51-year-old Robin Wilkie, who said she has spent $3,000 on hotels and food since arriving June 10 from Lake Minnetonka, Minn. She tallied more than 100 hours standing in line to wait for tickets and got into the courtroom 15 times to see Casey.
"True crime has become a unique genre of entertainment," Wilkie said. "Her stories are so extreme and fantastic, it's hard to believe they're true, but that's what engrosses people. This case has sex, lies and videotapes -- just like on reality TV."
Some of the strongest reaction to the verdict comes from Caseys former fiancé, Jesse Grund.
I walk away from this case with dissatisfaction with every side. I'm angry tonight, he said. This was not about a search for the truth. This was about you winning at all cost. That's what this was about, and I am angry. I am beside myself seething over that fact. This has been a frustrating experience overall based on the fact that Caylee I still love and miss dearly. She's never coming back and nobody sought out the truth in this. This was all about winning. This was never about the truth.
Grund went on to say that, as far as he is concerned, the Casey Anthony to whom he was once engaged to is dead.
George and Cindy Anthony are home, and they said they are concerned about their safety. Their attorney said the family has received death threats.
"Our office is receiving death threat. They are also receiving death threats. They are making the rounds on the Internet. Fortunately the Orange County sheriff is on the job and they are taking very good care of us, said Lippman.
George and Cindy released a statement that said they will now try to rebuild their lives. (read the full statement here) They called the verdict fair, but criticized what they called the baseless strategy used by the defense attorneys.
Other family members are also talking about the verdict.
Casey's uncle in Ohio, Chuck Eddy, said he was shocked by the jury's decision, but now his focus has quickly turned to the well-being of his brother-in-law.
George is the one that was harmed the most and I, you know, and I just, I want to see that George is vindicated through this, that is my feeling, said Eddy.
Eddy went on to say that if he could sit down with Casey, he would urge her to talk about what really happened to Caylee.
Casey's aunt had some harsh words for the jury after the not guilty verdict. She spoke with Nancy Grace by phone on Tuesday night.
I'm appalled, and now Im angry and I say shame on this jury that they are either not too bright or just plain lazy, Casey aunt said.
Now the world is watching and waiting to hear from Casey herself once she's released from jail.
What someone like Casey, anything will do, is that she'll become a celebrity. She will sell her story to the television networks. She will sell her story to Hollywood book deals. Her identity will become her celebrity and she'll live comfortably for the rest of her life, said WFTVs legal expert Bill Sheaffer.
Previous Stories: July 5, 2011: Casey Found Not Guilty Of First-Degree Murder July 4, 2011: Casey Jury Returns From Deliberations Without Verdict July 3, 2011: Emotional Day: Tears, Anger, Laughter In Casey Murder Trial July 1, 2011: State Rebuttal Over, Closing Arguments To Be Held Sunday June 30, 2011: Casey Won't Testify; Defense Rests In Eventful Trial Day June 29, 2011: George Says He "Failed" Caylee In Tearful Testimony June 28, 2011: Kronk: Left Bones Untouched, Tried To Do "The Right Thing" June 27, 2011: Casey Smiles, Laughs Prior To Mental Competency Ruling June 25, 2011: Judge Unexpectedly Adjourns Casey Trial Until Monday June 24, 2011: Tearful Day 38: Cindy, Casey, Lee Anthony Cry In Court June 23, 2011: Cindy: Searched Web For Chloroform, Car Stain Was Old June 22, 2011: Casey's Defense Team Tries To Tear Apart State's Case
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